CORPORATIONS: The Rapid Riser

After three months of complex dealing,
a giant new corporation shouldered its way last week into the top ranks
of low-priced specialty chain stores. The new company, the McCrory
Corp., was formed from three chainsthe B.T.L. holding company (a
corporate shell of the Butler Brothers variety chain), United Stores
Corp., and the McCrory-McLellan Stores Corp. With 461 stores, the new
company will rank fourth among U.S. low-priced chains (first three: F.
W. Woolworth, W. T. Grant, S. S. Kresge). The man who masterminded the
merger is Meshulam Riklis, 36, who in only nine years has risen from a
part-time,...